Unwittingly Connected
by buddhistbabe
Summary: How a never before attempted surgery, ancient magic, and some old fashioned eavesdropping changed the O.Z. forever.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own the rights to the Tin Man Mini series or the characters in the story.

None of this would be possible without my Beta reader Krin. Every time I felt like giving up, or that things were complete trash, Krin was there with wonderful comments, support and advice! So cheers to her!

Comments and reviews are always welcome

Summary: How a never before attempted surgery, ancient magic, and some old fashioned eavesdropping changed the O.Z.

Chapter One

In Central City things were not perfect. It had been two months since the destruction of the anti-sunseeder, and Azkadellia's freedom from the witch who had possessed her for so long. In those two months more progress was made in the O.Z. than many thought possible. A complete restructuring of the Tin Men units began and with their reestablishment the crime rates started to drop. The Papay and Munchkin forests had been restored while the city had started to undergo a strong polishing but there was still famine, poverty and disarray in several places in the O.Z. The last of the longcoats needed to be found. A new Mystic Man was needed for Central City. Yet despite those things, there was a bright future ahead for the country, with their Queen and the King Consort back at the throne and their two princesses back.

So while things weren't perfect, they were getting better. Change was occurring, and people were hopeful. And there was one place more hopeful in the O.Z. than the rest, and that was the waiting room in the medical wing of the Central City palace. Inside a green-tiled waiting room the royal family and several friends waited for the results of the first ever headcase reversal surgery.

The Queen and her consort Ahamo, who were so recently reunited, sat on their side of the recently freed oldest daughter, Azkadellia. Leaning against the door frame was Wyatt Cain, who had become well-known among the citizens of the O.Z. as a Tin Man and as a resistance fighter. He was currently using his connections with both the Tin Men and resistant fighters to help lead the Tin Man reform. Raw quietly sat apart from the royal family. He now spent most of his time with his fellow Viewers, trying to rebuild the once healthy relationship between them and the royalty of the O.Z.

They all sat in silence, and watched the youngest princess pace the length of the green waiting room in a steady manner. The fact that she was in deep thought was written across her face. Her blue eyes were clouded in concentration. The full-length dress she wore twisted around her ankles every time she turned causing her to continually pull absent mindedly at her skirt, as she had for the last hour.

Cain had considered telling her to stop before she made herself sick from worry, but by now he knew DG had a way of ignoring his wishes. Raw sat calmly, tucked away in his chair with his eyes closed, trying to channel himself away from all the nervous energy that everyone was putting off while trying send calming energy towards DG. Who in her current state of worry didn't even notice that everyone eyes were constantly following her.

DG couldn't help being nervous. She had spent a lot of time with Glitch before the actual operation talking with the alchemists about the process so they both knew what was going to occur. There were so many risks and unknown factors involved with the operation that it made DG's stomach turn at the thought of it. And while she was nervous about it, she couldn't even image how her friend felt.

While Glitch never really vocalized his fears to her, it was easy for her to read the worry on his face. There were moments when she would catch him looking out into space. While most people figured he wasn't thinking about anything she could tell by the way that his brow furrowed that he was scared. They both knew no one had ever done a re-implantation surgery before, because brains were never the intended to return after removed. Yet what really told DG that he was afraid was the hug that he gave her before he went in for his operation hours ago. It wasn't a back breaking hug, or even an overly long one, but she could feel him shaking in her embrace, which made it all the harder for her to let him go.

Her pacing was interrupted when she heard the click of the door latch on the other side of the room. Her feet moved her quickly across the tile and she stood in front of the alchemist before he even got the chance to properly shut the door behind him.

"Well?" DG said before the man had a chance to compose himself from the mere fact he was so close to one of the royal princesses.

"Ahh, well" he said in a flustered tone, the princess's close proximity unnerved him. He looked around at the others who were now standing behind DG, waiting patiently for news of their friend.

"DG" the queen said softly. "Why don't we go sit down? This conversation may take some time". As if she could read the nervous energy flowing off him.

"Thank you Your Highness" the alchemist said with relief and gratitude written across his face.

The alchemist didn't speak again until everyone was situated. He eyed DG nervously. Her intense stare seemed to shake him to the core. The youngest princess wasn't anything like the other royals he had interacted with, and he was actually a little afraid of her. He fiddled nervously with his long lavender alchemist's coat, trying to muster up the courage to continue.

"Right, yes, the brain" he stammered, "has been successfully re-implanted in the skull. We haven't removed the zipper, because...well, we may have to go back in later to make sure everything has been connected properly."

"One thing we should be thankful for was the pristine condition the brain was kept in. Ah... most headcases had their brains ahh, _donated_ to science after the original removal. Yet this brain is in the best condition an out of body brain could be in, physically at least."

The lavender-coated alchemist stared at DG for a long moment before turning away and continuing.

"What we do have some concerns over is…well, the mental condition of the brain. We don't know if any of the thoughts or memories were manipulated or fried in the part of the brain that we replaced. Since this has never ever been attempted before we had no way of testing the mental stability of the brain. There is a chance that once the brain is fully re-acclimated to the nervous system that there is nothing…functioning in it."

DG felt her stomach drop and had to look away. She chose to look around the room instead of at the alchemist. Her wandering gazed didn't make her feel any better. Cain was staring out the window of the waiting room, seemingly miles away. Her sister had her face buried in her hands while Ahamo wrapped his arm around her pulling her against his chest. Lastly she saw Raw, who was looking right at her, his intense but kind gaze caused her to look at the floor.

"When will we know if the brain is in a good functioning condition?" Ahamo asked the man, running a hand down his oldest daughters back.

"We'll know first thing when he wakes up."

"When will that be?" DG asked quickly.

"Well, we predict anywhere from a half annual to two annuals."

"Two years?!?" DG jumped out of her seat. Startling the poor alchemist and causing him to jump a foot in the air.

"Well," The alchemist looked like he was about to break into tears under the pressure of DG stare. "What we believe is occurring is similar to the shuffling of two decks of cards together. So in theory all of the memories and thoughts from Ambrose and all of the memories and thoughts from 'Glitch,' as fragmented as they may be, are being mixed together to create a master list of memories and personalities."

Why so long?" the fragile voice of Azkadellia finally spoke up, tears welling in her eyes.

"Well, because we know little about brain science we can only guess at the time. The two lobes spent a long time apart. So they had to learn to function on their own. Now the mind has to go through organizing and sorting these memories, yet how long it's going to take… we can only very roughly guess."

He looked at the forlorn face of the princess and did his best to redeem himself.

"But on the bright side he'll sleep through all of it. He'll wake up and it will be like no time has passed."

DG looked at him with a sadly strange expression. "Yeah but time will have passed. He has already spent years not fully being himself, and now he'll wake up and years will have passed. Isn't there anything that can be done?"

"I'm sorry Princess….but we know so little about the process that we may do more harm than good by trying to speed up the process."

"My angel" her mother said turning to her. "Sometimes we just need to let things run their course."

"Can we see him?" asked Cain. His long coat and green hat stood out among the clean bright walls and strange shiny contractions against the wall but he still managed to blend in and go unnoticed by the alchemist who jumped again when he spoke.

"Well, yes, but he is asleep and will be for a while so please don't be too loud."

Cain was the first to enter the room, followed by the Queen and Ahamo. Raw took the seat next to DG who sat silently in her seat, unable to move.

"DG scared."

She looked over at her Viewer friend and smiled at him.

"Yeah Raw, I'm scared. Glitch…Ambrose, may never be the same."

"Raw scared too, but we need to be strong for Glitch. He need you"

"Thanks Raw" she said reaching over to hug her friend. "We should go in there and see him now."

Raw wished he could stop her from going in the room. He could sense a wave of sad and distraught emotions washing from that room but he couldn't keep her from seeing the truth.

~~~  
DG sat in the chair next to Glitch's bed the rest of the day. She was at a complete loss of what to do. Everyone else had left hours ago, but she just sat there staring at her friend. She wished she didn't have to see him this way.

He made her think of the cancer patients she had seen at the hospital when she broke her arm in middle school. The alchemists had to shave his head so all that was left was the silver zipper splitting the top of his head. His skin was always pale, but now even his normally pink lips were pale. He seemed gaunt and frail and that out of everything that had happen to them, frightened her the most. Even when they were running from Papay or struggling out in the snow or wandering across the O.Z he was always full of humor. Yet now when she needed his humor the most, it wasn't there. The man in the bed had a resemblance to her friend, but it didn't look like him.

She took his hand carefully, trying not to move any of the strange wires and contraptions attached to his forearm, while mentally cursed him for being so adamant about having his brain replaced. Not that she could blame him; he had spent so long being only half of himself that be whole again must have been something he wanted so badly.

She sighed as she squeezed his hand. She knew she was being selfish, while he was being noble.  
"With my brain back in my head I won't have to worry so much about other people misusing what's in there" he told her time and time again whenever she questioned him having the surgery. She was more reserved about it than he was.

What if he did not want to be her friend when the scientific half of his brain was put back? What if he lost his sense of humor? What if he didn't like her anymore? Or decided to leave the palace? What if he decided to return to his family now that he could remember them? Why was she being so selfish? All of those questions ran through her head as she watched her friend sleep.

Slowly tears started to roll down her cheeks and the mixture of stress, fear and worry for her friend finally put her to sleep.

Several hours later, another person entered the private room that Ambrose had been assigned. Ahamo wasn't surprised to find his youngest daughter in the medical ward, asleep in the chair next to Ambrose's bed. Since he moved back to the palace he had a tendency to get up in the middle of the night and check on his family. He had been without them for so long that sometimes he worried that he was dreaming and he would wake up and be alone all over again.

What did surprise him on his late night visit was something he had not seen in many years.

She had fallen asleep leaning forward with her head buried in her arms on his bed and one of her hands entwined in his. Yet this wasn't what surprised him.

The light emanating from their joined hands is what did.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own the characters or the Tin Man series...sadly...

Also once again a HUGH thank you to my Beta, Krin. She keeps me in line, keeps me going and makes me sound 100 times better than i would on my own and for that, Cheers!

What started as a one night thing of sleeping in Glitch's medical ward room, turned into a two night thing, and then a week-long habit. After she had been scolded by Tutor about how improper and dangerous wandering around the castle was at night. The last thing DG needed was to deal with more lectures so she had to take extra precautions not to get caught. So her sneaking nights turned into weeks that turned to months, and the months started to add up. During the day DG would study the O.Z.'s history, practice magic with Tutor, have dress fittings, have meals with her recently established family and attend meetings about the affairs of the Zone. Yet at night she would wait until everyone had gone to bed and creep into the medical wing.

The night shift alchemist and nursing staff had learned to expect her. After the first two weeks of a constant standoff between her and the elderly head nurse Maggie, they finally accepted her presence in the ward and dedication to her friend. It helped that she was willing to do anything to help him from brushing his hair, which was growing back quickly, to helping them change his bed sheets. Every night when she arrived Maggie would be the first to see her and tell her if any change had occurred during the day, which much to DG's dismay was very little. Maggie would even go so far as to wake her up before the shift change happened so the day staff would never know she was there. Yet the gesture that DG was most thankful for was around her third week of staying there, when they even brought in a more comfortable chair for her to sit and sleep in.

DG thought that she was traveling around unnoticed by the rest of the palace. Little did she know that every night after she fell asleep one of her parents would come to check on her, and to see if she was still emitting white light when she fell asleep holding Ambrose's hand.

DG continued thinking that she had pulled the wool over the palace's eyes until about three and a half months of Glitch being asleep.

She crept slowly down one of the many gilded hallways on her way down to the ward. The hallways themselves often made if more difficult for her to sneak around. The walls were covered in decorative finish which had been tarnished when she started her nighttime escapes but had since over the last few months been polished to an intense shine. Even at night she could see her reflection on the walls. Most nights she never saw anyone, other than her own reflection. She knew the palace patrol schedule thanks to Cain, after she did a little strong-arming to get the information from him. Yet tonight her lone stroll was interrupted.

As she got closer to the end of the hallway she heard footsteps coming up the connecting hall. She could see the reflection of Tutor getting closer to her on the opposite wall, and if there was anyone she wanted to avoid in the middle of the night it was him. DG quickly looked for a hiding spot and ducked into an alcove trying to shrink into the corner and make herself undetectable. But he never reached her hiding spot. She heard them stop and knock on a close by door.

She heard her mother's voice answer "Come in."

_Why was he visiting mom and dad this late?_ She wondered. She shrugged off the question as she continued to creep down the hallway. Knowing Tutor, he was going to complain about something DG did, so half-listening to the conversation in her parents drawing room as she passed.

"Your Highnesses" she heard Tutor's voice echo from the cracked door. "Thank you for meeting with me so late, I just didn't want to run the risk of having this conversation overheard by strangers."

DG scoffed to herself as she inched past the opening. '_You should have closed the door properly then'_ she thought to herself.

"Of course, Tutor" said Ahamo. "We know you wouldn't have requested a meeting with us if it weren't important."

"Yes, well, it's about the youngest princess, you see"

DG froze. Her hearing focused completely on the conversation occurring in the other room.

"What about DG?" The Queen asked, concern apparent in her voice.

"I am sure you both know about her late night travels." DG stomach dropped as he said those words.

She strained to hear her parents' response.

"Yes, Tutor, it was Ahamo who discovered her."

_Shit_, she thought to herself, looking around for another hiding spot, just in case they decided to look for her.

"I know it says a great deal about the young princess' loyalty to her friend, and none of us can accuse her of being uncaring. It's just…this late night wandering is starting to take a toll on her performance in her studies."

"How so?" Ahamo said.

"Well, it's like she is completely drained. It's not just that she is falling asleep during meetings or lessons, which she has been. It is more holistic. Her magic is even drained. I mean, just yesterday I watched her fail at the most basic form of magic. She couldn't even light a candle with her mind and she had been able to do that since she was five."

DG flinched when she heard him mention the magic lesson from the day before. She had never seen Tutor look at her with such disappointment before. Every time she closed her eyes to concentrate she started to fall asleep. And on the occasions that she didn't start to drift off, she could barely see her light. It was just a very distant flickering.

"It is not that I don't think she should be seeing him" Tutor's voice pulled her back into reality.

"It's just, it has almost been a third of an annual and she has been so affected by the lack of sleep. If Ambrose stays asleep for the two annuals the alchemists predicted, who knows what will happen to her health. Not only that, but we can only keep this under wraps for so long. It's one thing for this to go on for a couple of days but we are getting closer to a third an annual. What about when two annuals are over and she has been sleeping down there the whole time? Also what happens if it takes Ambrose longer than two annuals to wake up? How in the world will she sit in court if she is falling asleep? How will she find a suitor if she disappears at night to spend time with a man 14 annuals her senior?"

DG couldn't stand listening anymore. She took off quickly yet silently down the hall, leaving the conversation behind. She had too much on her mind already to add any more to her growing pile of worries.

"Tutor, thank you for your concern. Ahamo and I were just discussing this matter ourselves." The Queen responded.

"See on the other hand" Ahamo said with more venom in his voice then he intended, "what DG is doing is really the most honorable thing she could be doing. On the other side, you stick by your loved ones, when they are sick or in need and at the moment on of her best friends is both. She isn't doing anything improper, just different."

Ahamo always felt he connected with DG differently because they both got to experience life on the other side. When he was sent to wait for DG in the Realm of The Unwanted, he regretted not getting to stand by his loved ones, and he wasn't going to allow DG to experience the same pain.

"Yet, we do agree with you Tutor" said the Queen, hastily making sure that their magic tutor wasn't offended. "We will speak with DG soon."

"Thank you, Your Highness" he said with a bow, and exited the room, leaving the king and queen together in a contemplative silence.

"When do you think we should tell them?" Ahamo asked his wife taking her hand.

"About the bond?"

Her husband nodded in response.

"I think we should let them find out on their own. Like we did." She smiled at her beloved as he wrapped his arms around her in a comforting embrace.

Elsewhere in the castle DG's feet carried her through the medical ward doors and straight into Maggie, the head nurse.

"You're late. I figured you had finally been caught" She said looking at DG flushed face and disheveled hair.

"Are you alright dear?"Maggie squinted at her through her wire framed glasses. "You look like a Boolooroo just chased you through a goat herd."

"Huh?" DG asked eloquently. "I'm sorry; I have a lot on my mind. But I am fine really."

She held her hands up in surrender. "You would be the last person I would lie to Maggie. I'd hate to be on your bad side again."

Maggie chuckled at the youngest princess.

"So how's the patient?" DG asked the concern evident in her voice as the pair of them walked over to the private room win which Ambrose was being kept.

"Well no change has been noticed by the day staff. His breathing is regular; his heartbeat's regular, even though his charts say that it picks up a little at night." She held his room door open for DG.

"He still isn't responding to any external stimuli." She continued. "During the day it seems your mother and sister visit him and he doesn't respond to their conversations. Or to the day nurses when they do his standard muscle testing."

"Maggie…" DG said softly, looking at her friend lying in bed. The past three and a half months had brought some change to his appearance. He had re-grown his curly hair, since the operation. His face was still thin but not as pale as it had been. All in all he looked quite normal, and anyone would just think he was asleep.

"I think he squeezed my hand a little last night."

"Really? That's great progress!" She said with genuine happiness in her voice.

"But it's so little and it's been so long." DG dropped down heavily into her chair, looking up at the head nurse.

"Well dear" Maggie said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "The mind is a very complicated thing. After almost a third of an annual with no response, a hand squeeze is a celebration!"

"I know I just think my family isn't going to allow me to continue to visit like this."

"Why not? They're the only reason you are here now."

"What?" DG looked up in disbelief.

"Your mother asked us to keep your presence here quiet and to let you come and go as you pleased."

"But…I thought…" She let her voice die into silence.

"Dear, just be happy he has responded at all. In life it's the little things that matter." Maggie said as she squeezed DG's shoulder in a comforting manner and left the ward.

DG took Ambrose's hand and looked at him seriously.

"What would you do?" She asked her sleeping friend, watching his even breaths and taking them for an answer.

"I've had a headache for days. Tutor's right, I have been falling asleep during lessons and meetings. It's just so much all at once" She rubbed her free hand over her face in exhaustion and frustration.

"I can't just leave you down here alone. You understand that right? I need you to be okay." She could feel tears welling up in her eyes.

Desperation for contact and comfort, DG crawled onto Glitch's bed, wrapped her arm around him and buried her head into his chest. She knew that if Tutor saw her in this position he would have a heartache but right now, she didn't care.

"To hell with being a proper princess" she muttered into his chest "You need to get better first. We'll deal with the rest together."

With that she fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Welcome to chapter 3 of my story. Thanks to all of you who have read this far! Please leave comments and feedback so I know what you think of my story thus far! I'd love you forever.

Once again I don't own the characters or the mini series.

And Once again a great takes to my beta, Krin. She feels bad about being a grammar Nazi, but I enjoy her strict ways because she keeps me and my story on track and in tip top shape. Thanks!

***

The morning light from the double suns found DG curled against her friend, having her first truly restful sleep in months. As she stirred from the sunlight across her face, she wondered '_where is Maggie?_' The head nurse was always the first person in the room in the morning, and always there to wake her up before the day shift came into work.

The second thought to enter DG's mind that morning was '_why do I feel so warm?_' More often than not when DG awoke in the morning in the medical wing, she would be frozen, and it would take several cups of really strong coffee to warm up her toes. This occurrence was so strange that she couldn't help wondering what was different this morning.

She got her answer once she opened her eyes and saw arm draped over her shoulder and another arm lying across her waist. '_That's strange._' DG wondered to herself. _'Glitch hasn't moved on his own in ages, let alone while asleep'._ She rubbed her face against his chest, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and was displeased to find that he did not smell like himself anymore. He smelled oddly like copper and acidic cleaner. Dismayed with the change in her friend's scent she sighed and pushed herself up and found herself staring into a pair of familiar brown eyes.

"Morning Doll" Said the lost but not forgotten voice of her friend.

DG was so startled by the voice that she hadn't heard in months that she started to backpedal away from its source and almost fell out of the bed. She would have too, if it hadn't been for his arms holding on to her.

"Glitch….Ambrose…you're awake!?" DG was stunned. For ages she had wanted to see him conscious again, yet all the things she wanted to say to him when he woke up flew from her mind. It was like her head had been emptied of all coherent thoughts and all that was left was the awareness that he had finally returned to her.

"Thank goodness!" She threw her arms around his thin frame and tightened her grip on her recently awoken friend, burying her face in his chest.

"Yeah, I've been up for a bit." Said Ambrose sheepishly. "A nurse came in to wake you up a while ago, but I told her it looked liked you needed to sleep and that I would wake you up. She was a nice woman. A little bossy, but oh well." He stretched his arms weakly.

" It was a nice nap."

"Nap?" DG sat up quickly, and looked her friend straight in the eye.

"You've been asleep for three and a half months." She said slowly, not knowing how he would take the news.

"What?! That long? I knew the alchemist said I would be asleep for a while but I didn't realize that their definition for a while was so broad. Well that explains why I feel so refreshed." He chuckled, taking the news much better than DG was ever expecting.

He looked down at his friends face in his arms and his smile fell. She looked…horrible, he felt guilty for thinking it but there was no other way to describe it. She really looked exhausted. Her once rosy cheeks were pale and there were bags under her eyes. Her hair even looked tired, it did not shine like it used to. Looking at her face, he realized how much time had actually elapsed. To him it had just been a day, but for her, it was ages. What else had he missed?

"I'm sorry DG. I didn't mean to make you worry for so long." He pulled her close against him again, and noticed how thin she felt. He weakly lifted one of his hands to run it over the top of her head. The amount of effort it took to do that simple action alone exhausted him.

"Are you kidding? You woke up three months earlier than anyone expected. I'm just so glad you're okay!"

She pulled away. "You _are_ okay, right?

"Yeah, I feel a bit weak, but over all okay" he said running a hand over his short dark curls and still zippered head, frowning. "I thought they were going to get rid of that… but yeah, I remember being a half wit and I remember being your mother's advisor. I remember so many things; it's overwhelming but strangely nice. Heavier than I remember but nice."

DG crawled out of his bed, blushing slightly at how close they actually were to each other. She stood adjusting her many layers of skirts, looking at him happily.

"Everyone is going to be so happy to see you! I have to tell them". She started for the door, but turned to face him again before she left.

"You are going to be okay, right?" She asked him seriously, the concern apparent in her voice. "You're not just saying you're okay because you don't want me to worry, are you?"

He sighed with a smile on his face. "I am really okay, DG. I am actually shocked at how well I am doing. Especially since this was an untested surgery. No one knew how it was going to turn out, and honestly, I expected to be somewhere between a half wit and a vegetable, but no, here I am, awake. Feeling…better than I have in years"

She stood next to the door, her hand on the knob. "I'm a little worried to leave you. What if this is a dream?"

"Well, Doll, if it's a dream, it's a pretty great dream." He smiled and gestured with his hand, which he immediately lowered. He had forgotten how much work it took for him to move his hands.

DG saw him lower his hand quickly and the look of sadness that crossed his face. She took a step closer to the bed when Ambrose looked up at her again, smiling weakly.

"Listen, DG,I haven't used my legs in months. I can barely lift my hands to my face. I am not going anywhere. So go get everyone. I promise I'll be here when you get back," he said with a sigh.

"It's a promise, then," she said, standing hesitantly in the open door. With one more look at her friend she rushed from the room leaving the door to swing close behind her.

"Maggie! Maggie!" He heard her shout as she ran down the hall.

"Princesses shouldn't run!" he called down the hall after her, knowing that if she could have heard him, she wouldn't have listened anyway.

Over the course of the next few hours Ambrose was visited, examined, poked, prodded, and questioned.  
After her parents and sister came to check on their recently awoken former advisor, Cain Raw and Tutor came by to see their friend. Then they were all ushered out of the room for the alchemists to check the patient. DG refused to leave, and was thankful that Cain and Raw agreed to stay with her. There was no way the alchemists could make the princess, a Tin Man, and the seemingly ferocious Viewer leave. So they trio sat in his room the whole time, except for Ambrose's physical, when the alchemists insisted that DG stand outside the room for the sake of decency.

Throughout the ordeal, DG thought she was being quiet. She thought that she was being respectful, but she could tell by the looks the alchemists were giving her that she was being just a little too loud, a little too questioning and a bit too doubtful for their tastes. Cain and Raw tried to calm her and distract her, telling her stories of how good the medical teams were for them when they were hurt, which she appreciated, but for some reason she just didn't trust the lavender-coated horde.

After several hours of the intense interrogation DG was sick of it; he had just woken up and had not had a moment's rest since. Just as DG was about to say some not so pleasant things to the team of alchemists, the Queen walked in and gracefully put a stop to the day's activities. She insisted that since it was dinner time that the princess and her friends come with her and that everyone should give the newly awoken patient a rest, for which Ambrose told himself he had to thank her properly once he was out of bed permanently.

Later that evening, Ambrose was lying in bed, running through all of the thoughts and memories stored in his brain. He enjoyed knowing things again, and being able to remember things said to him. Since everyone had left for dinner, he had recalled most of his childhood, and how his mother used to encourage him and his crazier inventions. He relived his adventure with DG and the search for the emerald, and successfully avoided the painful memories that occurred after DG left for the Other Side. He was recalling a wonderful moment when his first invention for the Queen worked properly, when he heard his door open, and saw a figure slip into his room.

"Princess, what are you doing here?" He asked her incredulously.

"Shhh, Ambrose, if you are too loud I might get thrown out again. I really ticked off the Alchemist today, and if they see me they might throw me out. They gave Maggie the night off, so I don't have someone to cover for me sneaking in," she shushed him as she moved towards his bed. "I've been coming here every night since your operation."

"But Princess! It's highly improper for you to stay here at night."

"It's DG, Glitch…I mean Ambrose." She corrected him, than herself.

"You may still call me Glitch that is a part of who I am. It may be best if you just call me that when we are alone, though; I wouldn't want the palace staff thinking I have a split personality or anything," he said, smiling softly at her, before his tone turned serious. "But DG, you really shouldn't be here. A young princess spending night with an older man it just screams scandal. You are what the O.Z. is looking to for future leadership and I couldn't forgive myself if…"

"Glitch," she broke in. "I've already been told that it's improper but honestly, I don't care," she said as she flopped down in the chair next to his bed, the one in which she had spent so much time over the past three months.

"I've waited so long to talk to you; I don't want to let some old-fashioned sense of moral rightness keep me from you."

"Princess….DG…Its just that now that I have my memories back, I know more than I did when we met. I can't just let you tarnish your reputation by…."

"Ambrose. Just try to stop me," she said crossing her arms. "I am staying here. I can't sleep unless I am here with you. You are bed ridden and I know the Glitch side of you doesn't want me to leave."

He sighed, knowing that she was right.

"Sometimes I wonder which one of us is smarter. Tonight you may stay here, but tomorrow night you better be back in your own bed. Please promise me?"

She nodded as she reached over to take his hand. He was thankful for the dimly lit room, because he felt his cheeks redden. Searching for a change of topic he said:

"So why don't you tell me everything I've missed in the last quarter annual?"

So DG began telling him about the progress the O.Z. had made in the last three months, but he was asleep within minutes. She laughed softly to herself and squeezed his hand tighter.  
"Welcome home," she whispered to his sleeping form.

***

When Ambrose awoke before DG the next day, she was still holding his hand. He stared at the young woman sleeping in the chair next to him.

She was curled up in an awkward fetal position, with her knees pulled up to her chest and her skirts spilling out of the chair. One of her arms was wrapped around her knees while her other stretched over onto his bed, still holding his hand. He couldn't deny that she was beautiful. Even with her head leaning awkwardly to the side, with a bit a drool in the corner of her mouth, she was one of a kind, his best friend.

Ambrose turned his eyes away from his sleeping friend; all of a sudden he needed something else to look at, anything. His eyes swept the room that had become his home for the last…_how long did DG say? Four Months? What's a month?  
_  
'_No_', he told himself. _'Think about something else'._ He looked at the numerous machines around the room and was surprised at how many he invented. There was the H.B.C.M. the heart beat count meter, the BFMS, the bodily fluids measuring system and the MMTDR, the Muscle Movement and Tissue Decay Radar. If he was hooked up to any or all of them, no wonder DG was worried about him.

DG again. His mind kept wandering back to her; he couldn't help looking back at her sleeping figure.

When he woke up the morning before with her in his arms, he didn't know how to react. He had been happy but very scared at the same time. Now that he had his complete set of memories, there were different rules and protocols that he had to follow and sleeping next to the princess was positively on the 'don't do' list.

He remembered her as a child in the palace. She was barely three years old when he joined the palace staff as the royal advisor. He was only 17 at the time, and he always felt that he related better to the princesses than he did to the rest of the court. He loved to spend time with her when she was a child; she was always willing to listen to his ideas and had an endless supply of her own. She took to building small trinkets in his lab, while he worked on his other inventions. He was practically her nanny.

When he was just Glitch she was never far from his thoughts; as scattered and broken as they were, she was in most of them. He always stayed close to her before, even slept next to her on their travels, but now he knew better than to let her sleep in the same room as him. Before he was a headcase and she was a traveler, things were very different now.

She was a young royal, and if he were in the Queen and Ahamo's position, he would have been working as he slept for the last three months to find her a proper suitor. The O.Z. needed stability, and while DG had started to tell him all about the restoration plans and how much had already been accomplished, deep down he knew that there needed to be some important influential political ties made. And he knew very well that the princess shouldn't be around men while she was sleeping. It was a scandal waiting to happen.

He sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead with his free head. He felt a headache on its way, either from the pressures of having a brain or the weight of his thoughts he had no idea.

Soon after DG awoke, she hugged her newly awakened friend and left to help solve the problems of the O.Z. Ambrose wished he could leave with her, but he at the moment had a different world of problems to deal with, namely the medical ward staff.

It seemed as if every nurse and alchemist in the Zone had come to see him since morning and they were putting him through his paces. A constant stream of people in lavender coats came to record any dreams he remembered, to measure his brain waves and to test his mental capacity by having him answer mundane questions about the O.Z.'s history. But by far, out of all the tests, the worst one was to see how much his muscles had deteriorated since he went in for surgery.

For this they had him walk as far as he could down the ward hallway unaided. This was the most embarrassing and painful of all the tests. Dressed in his mint green medical gown, with a pair of matching slippers on his feet, he could barely make it three steps before his legs gave way and someone had to catch him before he hit the floor. Ambrose was anger with himself; he had spent years wandering around the O.Z. without a brain and surviving perfectly fine, but now he couldn't even dress himself let alone walk to the bathroom on his own. Not only was his body not fully up to par, he had also developed a splitting head ache, and the pain was so intense that he could barely keep his eyes open.

They had him repeat this embarrassing display over and over again for what felt like hours, until a sharp voice interrupted the process.

"This is how you treat a national hero?"

Everyone turned to look at the door, besides Ambrose who was currently sitting on the cold tile floor, breathing heavily and covered in sweat. He could hear the sound of shoes walking towards him across the floor but he couldn't bother to open his eyes and see who it was.

"You okay, Zipperhead?"

"Cain," Ambrose looked up exhaustedly, seeing his friend familiar face. "Save me," he whispered as he gave into the pain of his headache and fainted.

***

Cain was furious, no he was more than furious. He was livid. He could safely say that he was angrier than he had been in ages, and the fury broke off him in waves as he marched down the hall to the Queen and Consort's chamber. He had gone down to the medical ward to talk to Ambrose about DG, to ask him for his help on how to get her back to normal again. It was easy for anyone in the castle to see that DG was wilting under the pressures of palace life, and he thought if anyone would know what to do, it would be Ambrose.

Yet the image that he saw when he got there outraged him. His friend had passed out in his arms. Whatever they were doing to him down there, he had to stop it at once. It was the least he could do for the man that had saved his life.

After he entered the Queen and her Consort's chamber he looked about the room, grateful to see that DG wasn't present. If he was livid, he had no idea how she would react.  
"Cain," the Queen said, looking complacently at the Tin Man. "What's wrong?"  
"It's about Glitch, I mean, Ambrose…" He started, taking off his hat.  
"What about Ambrose?" DG asked, entering the room.  
The Tin Man's head snapped in the direction of his young friend. _'Damn_' he cursed to himself  
"What's wrong Cain?" DG was rushing towards him.  
"It's nothing, DG," he said, looking to the Queen for help.  
"Cain, you can't lie to me. I know you better than that," She said, holding onto his arm as he looked away.  
"Fine," She spat angrily when her friend wouldn't meet her eyes. "I'll go see for myself." And with that she let go of his sleeve and marched out of the chamber.  
"Wait DG!" He called to no avail.  
"Great" he said to himself as he followed after her.

Something had changed in DG over the last few months, he could tell, and whatever it was, it was directly related to the zipperhead. Now he just wanted to make sure she didn't murder anyone when she saw the condition Glitch was in at the moment.

Cain was thankful for the fact that Glitch had fallen fast asleep by the time he had chased DG down to the medical ward. Cain watched her as she stood next to his bed and placed a hand on their friend's forehead. He visually relaxed at her touch, and exhaled slowly.

Cain felt like he was watching something he shouldn't be seeing. He slowly walked out of the room as silently as he could, trying to pretend he hadn't see anything. Yes, something was different about DG, but whatever had affected her had also affected Glitch.


	4. Chapter 4

**Well, It's been over two years and I am sorry for the delay. Sometimes things like life get in the way. However I do want to thank people for all of the reviews and story alters I have received. I have the last 4 chapters of this Story in various stages of completion. I have reached out to my original beta reader, but I haven't heard from her yer. So I might need a new beta. Which I seriously need.**

**Thanks to Krin for all the help thus far. And to the readers who are still interested in my story. I appreciate your support the most.**

**I hope that I can bring you the level of story I did before. While this isn't the most action packed chapter it helps lay the foundation for the next 4 chapters. Comments appreciated**

**Once again, I do not own Tin Man.**

The morning following Ambrose's collapse in the medical ward, DG was the first person to enter his room. She kept her promise to him and didn't sleep stay the night, but that would not keep her from his side, actually it had quite the opposite effect. She had resolved to spend any and all of her spare time with her friend. While she knew that she lacked any real power over the alchemists, she still took pleasure in imagining that she could fire all of them for the stunt tget pulled yesterday. She felt that the only thing she could do was play watchdog for her friend.

DG was surprised when she entered the room and saw Ambrose sitting up in his bed smiling at her. He looked very pale, paler then normally, with dark shadows laying under his eyes, giving away his exhaustion but he was still smiling.

He had been sitting up awake for hours. He woke up feeling like he had be beaten with a stick and his head was in so much pain he felt like his zipper was going to split open. Every fiber in his being was screaming, aching, begging to not be conscious. Yet none of that hurt as badly as the look of sadness and pity on DG face when she saw him.

Her eyes clouded and her brow furrowed, showing wrinkles that had never been there before.

"Hey Doll…er, DG, I look that bad eh?" He asked jokingly as she softly walked over to his bedside.

She smiled at his attempt to lighten the mood; it was moments like that where she saw Glitch in Ambrose. "No of course not, you look like a million dollars."

"What's a million dollars?" He asked in a puzzled manner, unfamiliar with her other side terms.

"Nothing important" she chuckled, sitting down in her well worn chair, learning close to him and taking his hand. "How are you feeling?"  
Ambrose stared at their joined hands; a side of him screamed that this kind of causal touch was forbidden. Yet at the same time he wondered how long it had felt so natural for them to be touching like this.  
"I've been better" he said smiling weakly looking up at her. "How about you? What's on your mind?"

With her free hand she brushed back the curls on his forehead. While doing so she brushed his zipper causing him to flinch. Her face fell and she lowered her hand.  
"I am worried about you. I need you to get better," Ambrose felt a strange flutter in his chest, but suppressed it when he heard her say in a deflated voiced "I can't stand this place."

"Well the medical ward isn't my favorite place either." He chuckled, trying to make light of the situation. This solemn DG was making him uncomfortably sad.

She smiled at him. "Well this place isn't that great, but I meant the palace."  
"You don't like it here?" He probed.  
"Not at all." She said gently "I am ready for another adventure. Is there a ruby that needs to be found or something because I think I might be the girl for the job." She smiled softly changing her tone to a more lighthearted attitude.

"Well, not one to my knowledge but that doesn't mean that there really isn't one."

"If you don't know about it, and you are the smartest guy in the O.Z. then there isn't one."

"I wouldn't say I am the smartest guy…" he said awkwardly. Before he had his brain removed he would have agreed wholeheartedly that he was the smartest guy in the Zone. Yet now, it was strange how knowing so little for so long actually puts knowledge in perspective. The line between acting like you know everything and actually knowing everything is actually a lot wider than most people believe.

"What's so wrong with palace life?" he asked, not letting her get him off topic. "Is it not every girl's dream to be a princess?"

"Well, it wasn't one of mine. It seems all glamorous but really there is nothing exciting at all about this job. I am forced to sit still all day in these horribly restricting dresses and listen to who-knows-what about politics of a people and a country I've never heard of before."

She got up and started pacing. Ambrose realized she was in a dress that really didn't suit her at all. The long layered skirt tangled around her ankles as she turned.

"I'll tell you anything you want to know about American Presidents, or when the Magna Carta was ratified but ask me the sacred food of the Wheelers, I've got no idea."

"That would be the fruit from the Dinner-pail Tree" Ambrose interjected, but fell silent when DG threw him an angry glance.

"How come everyone else gets all of this? I feels like I am trying to learn French all over again, but here no one even knows what French is! Then to top it off, I've got no one to talk to." She continued her pacing increasing with speed. "Cain is always on the move now that the Tin Men units are being re-structured. I offered to go with him but my parents wouldn't let me. Plus I know it would be selfish of me to demand time with him now that he is trying to get to know Jeb all over again. Raw has been at home for most of the last three months trying to convince the other Viewers that our government has really changed and that we are no longer going to imprison his people. And Az has it worst of all because every time I see her she is on the brink of tears and is constantly being weighted down with all this guilt. Then I feel like I should say something to her, but what can I say? What do you say to someone who has been possessed by a witch for years? Where is the etiquette lesson on that!" She shouted.

She ran her figures repeatedly through her hair as she spoke, making the refined look a palace stylist spent the morning working on resemble a animals nest.

"And speaking of Azkadellia, now these people I haven't seen since I was six expect me to just be their family! I had a good and loving family…it doesn't matter that they were robots! They were my family and never made me wear dresses or wear high heels or any of these ridiculous things!"

She threw herself into the chair she vacated earlier and held her head in hands obscuring her face from Ambrose's sight. He had the suspicion that she close to crying.

"…and I've been worried sick about you for this whole time." She mumbled. "With no idea if you were even going to be able to function when you woke, or if you'd wake up…and now how you are being treated now that you are awake…." she trailed off, still not looking up.

A tightening occurred in Ambrose's chest. He had no idea that all of this was occurring. Well of course he was asleep and healing thus couldn't know about any of it but he still felt an immense sense of guilt. He rushed to have his brain replaced, and he had no idea that his absence was going to cause DG so much pain. Maybe he should have waited a few annuals before even considering the operation. He watched her for a few minutes as she held her head down.

He wanted to reach out for her, but before he got the chance, she looked up at him with her blue eyes watering. "I'm sorry I unloaded on you." She smiled taking his hand and said in a fake serious voice "I know it is selfish, since you have a ton of healing still to do. But I need you to get better and save my sanity."

He spent a moment considering DG's sad face before speaking.

"Well, anything for you princess," he replied with a mock bow causing her to laugh.

After listening to DG's rant, his newly installed brain was running so quickly that he didn't notice that his head ache had subsided. He was just pleased to see that he could still bring a smile to her face, even with a full brain.

Over the next several weeks she was the first person to arrive to the medical ward every morning_**.**_ After his first day being awake with the doctors prodding him and his second day the medical team pushing him to his limit, she did not trust those sadistswith him alone.

She would be there to help him practice walking again. As they slowly walked the hallways of the medical wing he would tell her about the things he remembered and the things he had invented. For the first time in a long time, someone actually seemed interested in his inventions. In return she told him stories about her life on the other side, or how she was adjusting to palace life. Yet whenever he asked her if she had something to do, a meeting or conference she said that she had already done all her work for the day. Ambrose doubted this; he could also tell that she looked progressively tired every morning.

After several days of seeing he tired and worn out demeanor, he decided it was time to say something to her.

"DG If you have work to do, which I know you do, you don't have to come here every day" He said to her as his soft slippers shuffled down the medical ward one morning. He was immensely pleased with himself that today he didn't need to lean on the princess to make it down the hall. While he cursed the other part of him that missed her touch.

"Well, I've been working on things at night. I haven't been able to sleep lately either, so I work through things then" He looked at her closely and could see the bags under her eyes. "I'd rather be here during the day. It's the first time since your operation I've felt like I even kind of belonged here."

He stopped and she turned to face him, he put his hands on her shoulders and said "You will always belong here. This is your home."

"I know" she said looking away "But my real mother expects so much from me, she can't seem to understand that I am a different person now. When she gives me a new dress I have to lie to her about it. She looks so sad when I tell her I don't like them. And Az, she has all these responsibilities now, and I can see in her face that she is at her wits end. She doesn't have anyone to lean on but I don't know how to approach her. As for dad, you know, it's nice to talk about other side things with him but it's just different. It almost seems rude to talk about the other side together when Az and mom are around. You are the only one around here who I feel knows me. You know?"

"Yeah I do…and honestly the palace can be really hard to adjust too." he smiled awkwardly. "I don't know if you remember this but when you were a little girl. I just started working as your mother's advisor. I was 17, the youngest advisor ever, might I add." He added with a hint of pride, as reached the end of the hall and turned.

"I didn't fit in with the other members of court because to them I was still a child. In many ways I was, I'd never been away from my family before either. But I couldn't be a child either, there was no one for me to turn too when I was scared or confused. I can't even begin to tell you about the nightmares I had when I first moved here. I spent most of my nights staring out my window in the director of my parent's house, hoping that by some chance I could see their house while knowing it wasn't possible. I didn't feel like I belonged until you and Azkadellia noticed me. The two of you used to come to my work room to play whenever someone wasn't watching you close enough. Sure enough, whenever your maids couldn't find you, you would be up to your elbows in grease in my shop. I'd show you how to fix toys and I'd build you both gifts. You and Azkadellia made me feel like I belonged here at all. Eventually, I adjusted but I just needed help in the beginning."

Ambrose stopped again and turned to her, looking deep into her blue eyes. "You know, Doll, I know a fair bit about this political palace life. So why don't you bring your stuff here and we'll work on it together. But in return for me helping you, I want you to spend more time with your sister. I know you are hiding down here. Just because your parents take kindly to you being charitable and all, that doesn't mean you can give up on your other responsibilities. "

"I hate to admit it, but you are right. " DG brushed her bangs to the side and shot Ambrose a look of guilt. "I guess it is hard for everyone, and AZ is having just as hard of a time as I am. However, I really could use your help for the time being. Since it's just a matter of time until you're the advisor again"

"I appreciate your vote of confidence but its wouldn't look good for a …" he brushed his hand over his zipper "you know… to advise the Queen."

"Are you kidding?" she looked at him with disbelief in her eyes. "You're a national hero. There isn't a person in the O.Z. who doesn't know what you've done for them."

"Yeah, but in the long run, I couldn't prevent the witch from getting what she was after in the first place." Ambrose sighed, as if he was expelling a huge weight from his chest.

"Hey, don't talk like that." She said seriously. Grabbing his robed shoulder, and turning him to look at her. She looked him straight in the eyes, as if she was trying to make him to believe her.

"DG…you, your family and the court may know what happened but when other people see me they see convict." He broke his gaze away from hers. "I am a marked man, people don't look at my face to know who I am, they look at my head. Now that I have full control of my mental facilities I can remember what happened to me."

He stopped to lean against a wall, facing away from the princess.

"People treated me horribly, and the worst part was I couldn't figure out why and then I would forget their cruel treatment and just keep going. In a way it was better not remember why or when people laughed at you or ignored you or just were all around uncivil."

DG reached out a place and placed it on Ambrose's shoulder. She could feel the muscles in his arm relax at her touch. However, she could also feel his pain wash over her in a wave. She could feel his sadness and somehow her comforting gesture for him, became more of a life line for her. "I'm sorry, Ambrose, I didn't know it was that bad" She whispered softly, stepping closer to him.

"It's okay, I didn't know either. I guess it was a gift in a way, not being able to recall memories. It made it easier to bounce back. Now, I just have to put them away, and only remember the good memories." He turned to face his friend. "And really, this is what I wanted, to remember."

She stood there looking into his brown eyes, and it almost felt like she was looking into another world. There were so many colors, and so much depth to his eyes she almost forgot where they were. When he blinked at her, she took a quick step back.

"You are a hero in my book, and if you haven't noticed I am a princess and my book is the only book that matters".

From that point on the medical ward became a makeshift office for the two of them. Every morning she would come to Ambrose's room with a pile of papers. They would eat breakfast together and stroll down the medical wing as he told her about the different people who lived in the O.Z. and why they were important to whatever piece of work she brought with her that day. DG always left to visit with her sister after Ambrose fell asleep for his afternoon nap. Despite the fact he tired his hardest to stay awake his body still wasn't used to all strain after almost 4 months of only sleeping.

So he never knew that every day when DG left, she kissed him on the cheek.


End file.
